KUALA LUMPUR (March 14): The government is confident of rolling out a simpler and shorter expatriate permit application process in three months’ time, said Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli following the first meeting of the Special Taskforce to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) on Tuesday (March 14).

At a press conference at the Parliament building, Rafizi said another key decision Pemudah has made is to scale up nationally the Academy in Factory (AiF) programme, for which the pilot projects have been running for a while now. 

“One of the key concerns that have repeatedly been raised by investors and industries is the need for government agencies to simplify, strengthen and shorten the expatriate permit application process,” the Pandan Member of Parliament said.

“We reached the decision today that we will give ourselves three months. Then we are confident to roll out the much simpler application process.” 

He said the current permit process, which could take up to six months, have impacted businesses’ manpower planning. 

On the decision to scale up the AiF programme, Rafizi said that would help the country’s economy to move away from dependency on foreign workers, and help address the issue of job mismatches. 

The AiF programme is a collaborative effort between industries, academia and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to improve national productivity.

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